1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an anesthetics device with an anaesthetic vaporizer which supplies an anaesthetic to another device. The vaporizer and its connection to the anesthetics device are known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,693,853 and 4,825,860 respectively. a similar anesthetics device is known from German patent No. 35 23 947. The vaporizer has a setting adjustment which supplies dosed amounts of anaesthetic to fresh gas and then to the anesthetics device, and the vaporizer according to the invention has a coding for the unmistakable assignment of the type and concentration of anesthetic used.
In the known anesthetics device a storage container for an anaesthetic is connected to a setting device wherein the storage container engages with the setting device by means of appropriate code pins so that a dosing of the anaesthetic is adjusted to the respective physical properties of the anaesthetic influencing the dosing. The vaporizer and the setting device are connected to an anesthetics applicator, so that the dosed anaesthetic can be supplied to the anesthetics applicator. For an appropriate use of the anesthetics device, the anaesthetic required for the respective anesthetics does actually have to be connected to the pertaining vaporizer and the setting means. In addition, during an anesthetics procedure it is occasionally necessary to change the anesthetic. For this purpose either the vaporizer has to be replaced by another one or, if several vaporizers are connected to the anesthetics device, the vaporizer has to be switched. Herein it is imperative for the operator to ascertain that the desired vaporizer is actually connected and activated. This requires increased attention by the anesthesiologist, which cannot always be continuous, e.g. during applications of longer duration. There is a possibility of controlling the supplied anaesthetic by means of a meter, but only very complex meters have the capability of determining the kind of anesthetic from the metering itself and of choosing the corresponding calibration curve for the indication. More simple meters require manual switching to the kind of anaesthetic used, which can lead to incorrect dosing if an accidental switching error or an omitted adjustment to the new anaesthetic occurs.